The Ministry of Environment announced that Jangdo lsland High Moor was designated as the 1,423th Wetland of Ramsar Convention in the world and the third in Korea after Deaamsan Dragon Swamp and Woopo Swamp. Jangdo lsland, located in Shinan-gun, South Cholla province, had been designated as the Wetland Protection Area in August, 2004.

The Ministry of Environment submitted an application to the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention last December to designate Jangdo Island as the Wetland of Ramsar Convention and designated it as Ramsar Wetland on March 30 through a meeting with the Secretariat.

Ramsar Wetland is a wetland, which has unique biological and geographical features and is a habitat for rare animals and plants, especially waterfowl.

Jangdo Island high moor contains thick layers of peat on clay beds, which make it the largest source of high quality freshwater in the island critical for surviving species of 294 plants, 146 of insects, 5 of amphibians and reptiles, 44 of birds. It provides a habitat for red-listed species like Falcon peregrinus, the otter Lutra lutra, the orchid Dendrobium minutiflorum, Hobbseus cristatus, and Marsdenia robusta.

The designation of Jangdo Island as the Ramsar Wetland is considered as a great achievement of the government that has been working hard to introduce the biological importance of Jangdo Island wetland to the world and protect local wetlands through international cooperation.

The Ministry of Environment plans to set up a Wetland Protection Plan and build management facilities within this year to preserve the mountainous wetland of Jangdo Island.

* The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.